Gaff guard



June 2, 1964 D. M. HUTCHINGS GAFF GUARD Filed Feb. 4, 1963 INVENTOR. DONALD M. HUTCHINGS ATTORNEY United States Patent M This invention relates to guards for the spikes of climbing irons, and more particularly toa slotted clip adapted to receive the spike of a climbing iron and to be releasa bly connected thereto by spring tension to form a guard for. the sharp point thereof.

Climbing irons worn by lumberjacks and by telephone and electrical power linemen conventionally bear sharp spikes protruding downwardly and inwardly therefrom and adapted to engage the sides of trees or wooden poles so as to enable the wearer to climb up and down same. When the wearer is not aloft, or when the irons are in storage or being transported, it is conventional to provide guards covering the sharp points of the spikes to prevent accidental injury to such points or to the user or handler from contact therewith.

Heretofore, such guards were connected to the climbing iron by hooks, bands, straps, loops or spring-loaded hooks adapted to encircle the leg portion of the climbing iron or to snap into engagement with and bear downwardly upon the shoulder formed by the uppermost portion of the spike. Such conventional guards are difiicult to connect to and disconnect from the climbing iron with which they are adapted for use, and by reason of their complexity and delicacy, are susceptible to damage during field use. 7

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a gafi guard disposed to receive the spike .of a climbing iron through a slot therein and the point of said spike within a fold in said guard, and adapted for releasable connection by spring tension at three points of contact between said guard and said climbing iron and spike.

The above and other objects of the invention which will later become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification in which like characters are employed to designate like parts throughout the same, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a climbing iron with a guard fully connected thereto.

FIGURE 2 is a front view of a guard.

. FIGURE 3 is a rear View of a guard.

FIGURE 4 is a front view of aportion of a climbing iron showing a guard in process of connection thereto.

FIGURE 5 is a front view of a portion of a climbing iron showing a guard in process of disconnection there-' with.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, generally shown at in FIGURE 1 is a conventional climbing iron having a leg portion 12, a stirrup portion 14, a D-ring 16, and a gaff or spike 18 extending downwardly and inwardly from leg portion 12 near its juncture with stirrup portion 14. A strap (not shown) conventionally extends through D-ring 16 for binding climbing iron 19 to a lower limb of a wearer. Spike 18 bears at its lower extremity a sharp point 20 adapted to be driven into engagement with a tree or wooden pole by the leg muscles and weight of a wearer for climbing up or down such a tree or pole.

I provide a new and unique guard, generally indicated at 22, to protect point 20 from damage and to prevent injury to personnel from contact with said point when climbing iron 10 is not in use aloft. I form guard 22 from an elongated strip of spring steel stock such as S.A.E. number 1074 or 1095, and having a thickness of 3,135,352 Patented June 2, 1964 from .040 to .062 inch, although other convenient thicknesses may also be used. A longitudinal slot 24 is formed in the main body 26 of the strip of stock along the longitudinal axis of the strip and nearerto the upper end than to the lower end thereof. The width of slot 24 is selected to be slightly greater than the width of spike 18 at the point of greatest width ofthe spike, so asto accommodate the spike withoutv excessive play therebetween. The bottom of Tslo'tz24 is disposed to rest against an arch 27 formed in the underside of spike 18 near its juncture with climbing iron 10. I

The lower portion of guard 22 is then'bent forwardly and upwardly to form a fold 28, the short, outer side of which is further bent forwardly to form a small lip 30. The upper end of guard 22 is also bent forwardly to form a relatively large lip 32 disposed to be engaged by a thumb 33 for a purpose more particularly hereinafter described.

Fold 28 is formed to have a depth sufiicient to allow a slight space between the bottom of the pocket and tip 20 when guard 22 is fully engaged with spike 18, as best shown in FIGURE-1. Further, the distance between the two opposing sides of fold 28 are so formed, and the distance therebetween is carefully selected, so that, when guard 22 is fully engaged with spike 18, the spike is'contacted. and gripped at two points by the two opposing sides of the fold, as indicated by the arrows at 34 and 36 in FIGURE 1, under the spring tension of the spring steel material of which guard 22 was composed.

The main body of guard 22, generally coincident in longitudinal extent with slot 24, is bent into a forwardly extending arch 38 such that, when guard 22 'is fully engaged with spike 18 as shown in FIGURE 1, the guard at a point near the upper portion thereof such as that at which lip 32 is bent outwardly from said body 26, contacts and grips leg portion 12, or an extension thereof as shown in FIGURE 1, immediately above and rearw'ardly of the upper end of the shank of spike 18, as indicated by the arrow at 40 in FIGURE 1, and the upper end of slot 24 is disposed rearwardly of the shoulder 42 formed by said upper end of said shank.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of guard 22 which has a particular configuration and which grips spike 18 and leg portion 12 and particular points, it is to be understood that other configurations may be used and that spike 18 or leg portion 12 of this or of other styles of climbing irons may be gripped at other points without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

After being thus formed, guard 22 is heat treated to Rockwell point 45 to to provide spring tension. If

desired, guard 22 may also be plated, as with chrome or cadmium.

In use, when it is desired to connect guard 22 in protective position over point of spike 18, the spike is inserted forwardly through slot 24 and downwardly into fold 28. With the bottom of guard 22 against a horizontal surface, such as the upper surface of a fallen tree, of a rock, of a curb, of a block 41, or even of a street or sidewalk, stirrup 14 is forced sharply downward, by the foot of the wearer of leg iron 10 if it is being worn or manually if it is not, as shown by the arrow at 44 in FIGURE 4, whereby the sides of fold 28 are forced outwardly by the sloping sides of spike 18 further to receive the spike, the spike being thus pressed downwardly into the pocket until restrained by contact of the lower end of slot 24 with arch 27. The upper end of slot 24 then extends slightly above shoulder 42 at the upper end of spike 18, and, by reason of the rearward pressure of the upper portion of guard 22 as illustrated by the arrow at 38, such upper end of the slot is forced rearwardly of such upper end of the spike and thereby engaged against further down- 3 ward movement with respect to the spike. Such rearward motion of the upper end of slot 24 has the further eifect of bringing the vertical sides of the slot alongside of and parallel to portions of the upper sides of spike 18, thus restrtaining the upper portion of guard 22 fromsideways movement with respect to the spike just as the lower end i of the slot restrains the lower portion of the guard from such sideways movement. Guard 22 is thus connected to leg iron 10, as best shown in FIGURE 1. Leg iron 10 may then be worn by its user while walking about on the ground without any danger of accidentally driving spike 18 into the opposite foot, ankle or leg. Similarly, if the leg iron be removed from the wearer and transported or stored, it may be handled and stored without danger either to personnel or to point 20.

It is to be particularly noted that the spring tension of guard 22 causes the guard to grip spike 18 and leg portion 12 at three points, as shown by the arrows at 34, 36, and 40 in FIGURE 1, in such a manner that pressure at two of such points is opposed by equal pressure in an opposite direction at the third such point. While it is, of course, desirable that the upper end of slot 24 fit sufiiciently closely over shoulder 42 to prevent downward movement of guard 22 of such extent that point 20 would be substantially Withdrawn from fold 28, there need be no downward spring pressure of guard 22 upon shoulder 42 to retain fold 28 engaged with spike 18 and coverin the point thereof.

To remove guard 22, thumb 83 is pressed forwardly against the rear surface of lip 32 until the upper end of slot 24 clears shoulder 42. Guard 22 is then free to be moved downward with respect to spike 18, as illustrated by the arrow at 46, which movement is facilitated by the inward pressure of the sides of fold 28 against the sloping forward and rear sides of the lower portion of spike 18, until such pressure is relieved sufficiently so that the weight of guard 22 causes it to fall and become completely disengaged from the spike, thus exposing the spike for use. The guard is then pocketed for subsequent reuse.

' It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the same and that resort may be had to various changes in construction without departing from the scope of the subjoined claim.

What is claimed is:

A guard for the point of a spike of a climbing iron, said spike having a shoulder near its upper end, comprising, a forwardly arched spring clip having a longitudinal slot therein disposed to receive said spike therethrough, a fold at the lower end of said clip to receive said point, the forward and rear sides of saidfold being disposed to press inwardly against the forward and rear sides of said point, respectively, and the upper portion of said clip being disposed to press rearwardly against said climbing iron, the upper end of said slot being arranged above and rear- Wardly of the forward edge of said shoulder when said spike and point are fully received by said slot and fold, V

UNITED STATES PATENTS Meyers Dec. 29, 1931 Serene Nov. 20, 1934 

